Council backs campaign to combat litter

North Lanarkshire Council is backing a national campaign aimed at tackling the problem of litter and keeping streets clean.

More than 900 tonnes of litter are dropped in North Lanarkshire each year, which damages the environment and costs the council over £5 million to pick up.

The Scottish Government has launched the Towards a Litter-free Strategy, which aims to reduce litter and flytipped waste and increase recycling, by encouraging Scots to ‘do the right thing and use the bin’.

The campaign highlights some of the consequences of littering – the shame and embarrassment of being caught dropping litter and facing an increased fixed penalty of £80.

Council officers patrol town centres and communities across North Lanarkshire and are issuing on-the-spot fines of £80 to anyone they catch littering. The fines increased from £50 in Apri.

Environmental services committee convener Councillor Helen McKenna said: “The millions of pounds we spend on picking up litter and removing flytipping dropped by irresponsible people, would be far better used on improving local services for everyone.

“And the solution is very simple – put your rubbish in a bin or take it home. If you have larger items to get rid of, just phone the council for a special uplift or take it to one of our recycling centres for free.

“If everyone does the right things, we’ll all enjoy safer, cleaner communities.”